The Cedar Waxwing - Some are in Lubbock Now
A sleek and elegant winter visitor to our area is the Cedar Waxwing – a robin-sized bird with a mask and crest, and a dab of red that looks like sealing wax found on the tips of its secondary feathers - hence the name. I saw my first flock of them at our outdoor pond January 14th, 2019. Cedar Waxwings follow fruit, the mainstay of their winter diet. Voracious eaters, they seek out fruit and berries high in sugar content. When fruit is overripe it ferments, and if the waxwings consume too much of a good thing, they literally become intoxicated and fly erratically into glass doors, windows, and sometimes into cars.
For some, this results in death as a result of head trauma. Others simply knock themselves out and they’re brought in to the Wildlife Center. Many waxwings make a full recovery and after a day or two of rest and recuperation, they’re released again. They’re very easy to care for, and will almost immediately accept bits of grapes. They may appear for only a day or two, or stay around awhile, but enjoy them when they are around!
VOLUNTEERS ARE ALWAYS
NEEDED AT SPWRC!
Click on the tab
Volunteer Opportunities above
We're open 24/7 and every day of the year from early morning until dusk. Things slow down in fall, but we always need volunteers for animal care, housekeeping and yard work. Call us at 799-2142 if you have even a few hours you can donate to help wildlife!
Spring means "baby season" for birds and mammals and our workload peaks around mid-April until mid-September. July and August marks the period when many songbirds are having second clutches, and our census reaches its peak around that time.
"Saving one animal may not save the world, but it will surely change the world for one animal"….
Author not known
3308 95th Street Lubbock TX 79423
SPWRC is on Indiana Avenue at 95th Street behind the 80' wall with
a wildlife mural
Wildlife Drop-Off building in our driveway open 24 hours a day
Volunteers and staff are on premise from 8 am to 5 pm
(winter hours).
We are are also registered at AmazonSmile now for charitable donations!
http://smile.amazon.com/ch/75-2468445A big thank you to Archivist David Marshall with the Southwest Collection on campus at Texas Tech University. He and his staff have digitized all our available past Mockingbird Chronicles newsletters. Our first black and white issue was published in 1995. In our early years, issues were not quarterly as they were for many years, but simply published as I had time to write, edit and do photo work. Back then it was also a much bigger task than it is now, when a PDF can simply be uploaded to the printer. Meanwhile, I'll continue to post photos, etc. of my many fond memories of 30 years of working with and for wildlife and keeping our web site updated. Here's the link:
https://swco-ir.tdl.org/swco-ir/handle/10605/286683